Yesss! It's been a while, but my Mum (and her boyfriend Keith) are back with another indepth, on point, indispensable movie review! And this time I sent them to see THOR! Now, you already know I loved Thor. But what would my Mum make of Marvel's latest ink to celluloid transfusion? Let us see!

Thor – A moral Tale

Last night I had a sore throat and big headache so I took some Nurofen and went to see Thor. I recommend Thor over Nurofen anyday.

One of the upsides to being a mother is having a great excuse to paint pictures on walls (the relevance will soon become clear). When my boys were babies I spent months creating a wall sized watering hole surrounded by jungle and the faces of dozens of animals peering through the leaves. A few years later, another house with bigger walls and the paint and brushes were out again; this time, to paint larger than life-size super heroes – a whole room full. My favourite was, you’ve guessed it, Thor. He had a better costume than the others, a magical hammer and long blond hair! What more could a girl want of a super hero?! As you can imagine I was very interested to see how the flesh and blood version would measure up…

So to the story: A trio of scientists observing cosmic phenomena are alarmed when a solidly-built, handsome (in a rugged sort of way) man drops from the sky on to their truck. After tasering him for being a bit feisty, they eventually befriend him and the young Lady (of course) Scientist helps him to find his magical hammer, which has also fallen to Earth and attracted the attention of some Men in Black.

The scene swaps back and forth from Earth to Thor’s celestial home of Asgard, which did not have any hobbits present despite sounding like it should. We learn that Thor has been an arrogant young princeling causing all sorts of trouble with a bunch of frost giants so his daddy has banished him to Earth to learn a bit of humility. Meanwhile, Thor’s brother Loki gets up to lots of shenanigans of his own.

The plot unfolds and along the way to its conclusion has something to engage everyone: Lots of exciting fighting, some subtle romance, sibling rivalry, thankless children, a tinge of jealousy, loyal friendships, a sprinkling of wit and a wide range of beards. Clearly, Shakespeare, as well as Marvel, borrowed heavily from Norse mythology. Of course, by the end Thor had learned his lesson and was thus reunited with his magical hammer and at the same time, his amazing costume. He then dealt fairly with the bad people while displaying a propensity for self-sacrifice. From the pit of self-absorption to the mountain-top of the moral high ground in a couple of hours!

How I enjoyed it! The main characters drew me in and only for the briefest moment did I think that Odin was really Anthony Hopkins. As I had no idea who played Thor, I totally believed in him throughout. Thor’s idiosyncrasies born of coming from a culture across the stars were charming and convincing. Next time I am in a tea shop I will try them out.

It was brilliant, in the true shining sense of the word. I loved it all. It made me want to go ‘whoo!’ Next time you have a headache take new Thor by Kenneth Branagh.

Keith’s review

See it in 2D! The characters have all the depth need to make this a great film.